This trip is different from last year.  I mean, it’s the same family and same RV, but entirely different kind of trip.  Last year we spent a good part of the time on the road, seeing the sights from America’s highways.  In other words, there was A LOT of driving.  Coincidentally, there was also a lot of screaming from our precious son who did not appreciate sitting in a car seat for that amount of time.  So in the interest of keeping our family together and not leaving Roark somewhere in Tennessee, we decided to make this trip more about the locations rather than the road, which is nice because we get to hang our hats (or park our rig) in a spot for more than one night at a time.

 We spent the first several nights in Natural Springs, Virginia.  I know I’ve already told you about all there is to do when it’s raining, but when the weather’s cooperative, the fun really begins. 

 The first thing on our to-do list was the Virginia Safari Park.  And as much as I would like to tell you that this stop was completely for the kids that would only be a half truth.  I really planned this with myself in mind and thought the kids wouldn’t mind tagging along. 

 The only thing I knew about safari parks before last Wednesday was what I had learned from watching clips on America’s Funniest Home Videos.  I always thought it looked like a good time and something I needed to experience someday.  I was not disappointed.

 When we first arrived, we visited their walk-thru area which was kind of like a small zoo.  I was really impressed with the amount of animals that were just in this part including tigers, giraffes, and monkeys.  The animal habitats were so nice, but yet you could actually see the animals.  I’ve always defended the Birmingham Zoo, but maybe everyone is right.  Maybe it really is kind of crummy.

 On a side note, I will now start referring to Roarkie’s hair color as “straw colored blonde.”  As he was standing next to one of the pens watching goats eat some hay, a camel came up and tried to eat his hair.  Ken was rolling the camera, but dropped it in response to my yelling that a camel was eating Roark’s head.  I feel pretty sure that we could have made an appearance on AFV ourselves had the camera still been rolling.

 Anyway, the highlight of the walk-thru area was the kangaroo walk-about.  The sign on the fence literally said, “Please step over sleeping kangaroos.”  We actually got to pet a kangaroo that was lying in the middle of the trail.  Some of them were a bit skittish, but I would probably run too if I were a kangaroo and saw two little kids running up to me with their hands out.

 After we had seen everything in the walk-thru area, it was time to begin the real fun.  We loaded back into the car. (No, we didn’t try this in the motor home.)  Ken drove while Edie sat in the passenger seat, and I sat behind her in the back with Roarkie.   We had four buckets of feed. 

 We didn’t even get through the gate before a pack of llamas were at our car windows.  In fact, several were standing in front of the car, making it impossible to drive.  We eventually inched our way through the gate, and I had my bucket out the window ready for action.  Within the first couple of minutes, we had llamas sticking their heads in the car, trying to get the buckets.  Ken and I were laughing hysterically.  Edie was screaming as she crouched down in the floorboard, and Roarkie was telling them to get “OUT!”

 I must admit, the ostriches freaked me out.  They pecked at my bucket with force and then threw their heads back to swallow the mouthful of feed in one gulp.   Something about it was unsettling.  I guess because I had a birds eye view (pun intended), and I quickly decided that I was going to stay away from them.  

 The camels were definitely the most aggressive which is probably why they were behind a fence.  We were about to pass them by without feeding them until I decided to give it a try.  The sign on the fence said, “Careful.  We steal buckets.”  I now have a bruise on my arm the size of a half dollar that can attest to the sign’s truthfulness. 

 That camel nearly pulled my arm out of socket trying to wrestle that bucket out of my hand.  I finally relinquished it when my arm got penned in the window that was only half-way down.  The whole spectacle was only about seven seconds and ended with me howling in the back seat, holding my arm.  I’m sad to say, I let the camel beat me, but he had an advantage.  He was willing to resort to physical pain, and I wasn’t.

 So from there, we wound around through more pastures and fields, feeding different types of elk and deer.  Edie eventually worked up the nerve to hang out the window and hold her bucket out.  I nicknamed her the “Feed Nazi” because she would let a deer get a bite of food, and then quickly shoo him away while saying, “That’s enough for you!” 

 Since Ken’s window didn’t roll down, he played tricks on the animals by placing buckets of food on the dashboard.  The animals would hang across the windshield and drool as we all laughed.   (Don’t worry, Dad.  We’ll wash the car before we bring it back to you.)

 By the end of our safari adventure, we had four empty buckets, one wound, and some great memories.   Later that night, Ken and I watched the video footage and were still laughing at the spectacle of it all. 

 The next day, we toured the Natural Bridge of Natural Bridge, Virginia, and in a nut shell, it’s just another tourist trap.  It was cool to see where George Washington had carved his initials in the side of the rock while he was surveying in his pre-military days, but honestly, we didn’t even know that was what it was until we went through the second-rate wax museum (admission included with our ticket).  Natural Bridge wasn’t really worth the stop, but it was forgotten because the Safari Park was so much fun.

I’m worn out from pushing a stroller all day.  I spent the afternoon wrangling kids in a gift shop, and I paid way too much for a mediocre lunch.  It can only mean one thing: the McKibben’s are on vacation!

 I have now learned from experience that every vacation we take in the future we will be departing on a Saturday.  My original plan was to leave on Tuesday, but as soon as Ken got off work on Friday, he put his vacation shorts on, dug his flip flops out of the closet, and said, “Let’s go!”  I spent the next day and a half slinging clothes into laundry baskets and shuttling stuff between our house and the motor home.  I didn’t stop for 18 hours straight, but I turned three days of packing into one.  We finally pulled out of the driveway on Sunday afternoon, and it was a good thing because after all that packing, I really needed a vacation.

 Our first destination was to Natural Bridge, Virginia, or to be more precise, Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge, Virginia.  The internet made it look like a kid’s paradise and the best campground in the world, but from what I can tell, it’s basically a normal campground with a slash pad, inflatable bouncing pad, and Yogi Bear’s picture plastered on anything that will stand still.

 However, as far as Edie’s concerned, it is, in fact, the best campground in the world.  She is especially a fan of the times Yogi Bear himself has come by our campsite for a hug.  Two days ago, she’d never even heard of him, but I guess she thinks he must be pretty famous since she’s been seeing his picture everywhere lately.

 There is a fair amount to do in this little area provided you have good weather.  I can say for a fact that there is absolutely NOTHING to do here if you don’t.  In hindsight, I might not have busted my butt to get us out of the house early if I had known that we would just be spending the extra day cooped up in the RV due to rain.

 It started raining first thing in the morning while we were saying the pledge of allegiance with Yogi Bear.  We immediately began searching the internet for something to do indoors since all of our planned activities needed sunshine and quickly realized that we were grasping at straws.  Our first day of vacation consisted of lunch at Burger King, and a stop by Radio Shack and the Dollar Store. 

 By evening the rain had not let up.  So onto the next plan:  the movies.  However, even that seemed somewhat impossible.  According to Fandango, the nearest movie theater was over an hour away.  I kept searching and coming up with nothing.  I could feel the RV walls moving in on me.  Edie was whiney.  Roark was getting into everything, and I was quickly losing it.  I told Ken, “I don’t care what we do, but we’ve got to get out of this RV!”

 So Ken set down in front of the computer and began to work his magic.  Five minutes later, he was telling everyone to get their shoes on.  He had found a little theater showing the Beesus and Ramona movie about fifteen minutes away, and it was starting in ten minutes. 

 I can’t imagine a more perfect movie theater for our purpose.  First, when I was buying our tickets, the young girl behind the counter told me that Tuesday was “Family Night,” so right there I could feel our luck changing.  Second, we were the only people there, and I mean, in the ENTIRE theater.  As in, we were the only people that patronized the establishment that whole evening.  This was great because Roark could run the aisles once he was bored with the movie and no one would care.  They actually waited until we took our seats to begin the show.

 Now to really appreciate this scene, you have to remember what we do for a living.  Ken has worked in some of the finest movie theaters in the country, and we are proud to boast that some of them are even our clients.  So when a third of the movie was being projected onto the curtains and there wasn’t even a sub in the speakers, we just looked at each other and laughed.  We drove nine hours to watch Ramona Quimby in a two bit theater.  The scene was priceless. 

 It was really a cute movie.  I had secretly wanted to see it since Beverly Cleary was one of my favorite children’s authors.  So it worked out because I didn’t really see Ken allowing me to add it to our Netflix queue.  There were even several funny parts where we all laughed out loud.  But the best moment was when the train went by outside and was so loud I thought the stained ceiling tiles were going to fall down on our heads. 

 We all had popcorn for dinner and bladder-busting-sized cokes, and during the credits, the kids and I danced in the aisles just because we could.   Once again, Daddy saved the day, and whenever I think of that movie, I will always remember that night in Virginia where we got to enjoy our own private showing.